Chapter Eight

“Lie to me, only if the truth will kill me.” -Amyirechi

¶¶

Matthew made the necessary reservations and documentary needed to secure them a room. However, Mr Sanchez already reserved a room for them in the best part of Raffles Hotel, Singapore.

The VIP section was the earnest desire for every guest which paid to stay at the hotel, it was their dream to afford to pay for even a night there. But Matthew and Doris would be spending two weeks in the section, all expenses paid. 

Doris looked round the hotel environment as they were being directed to their room by the bellboy. The place was beyond beautiful. The compound was spacious and large enough to accommodate two huge three-storey building, a vast golf field, and two wide swimming pools.

There were small bars and lounges located around too.

“Here is your room” The slim boy putting on a red polo imprinted with the words Raffles Hotel—behind, and a black trouser announced to them.

He unlocked the door and took their bags inside, with the help of the rack he used to carry them.

“Thank you” Matthew told him before placing a few notes into his palm.

The boy smiled at the gesture and took his leave, giving the couples privacy.

Doris closed the door after he left, while her husband made to look at the other corners of the room. She plunged down on the large king-sized bed with white covers. The bed was so soft that she could drift into sleep at any moment, but she had other plans in mind.

Since they were already here in Singapore, she could use the chance to find out what went wrong with her sister.

She has been to Dorine's office once and it was a long time ago. Still, she hoped that she would get some good news when she went back there which would be whenever she managed to get away from Matthew.

“So how's the place?” Matthew asked, suddenly appearing from the bathroom.

“I love it, it's beautiful” she admitted, which was not a lie. She did find the room extremely beautiful and worthy of a king, but the guilt of knowing that she doesn't deserve it, chewed on her conscience.

“I hope you had lots of rest, because from here until the day we leave this hotel, we're not going to have any rest," He smirked, a dimple appearing on his cheek.

His words held ambigious meaning to Doris. She couldn't point out what he meant, but she cared less. She would not be around to find out anyway. 

She was going to meet and talk with Dorine, the earlier her sister came back, the better for everyone.

After they were settled in, Matthew opted to give her a short tour of the hotel.

“There's French cuisine, Indian foods and American meals too. You can even get the best wines and drinks here,”

“How do you know all that?” Doris asked Matthew as the walked along the swimming pool area.

He was flinging their joined hands as they walked and talked.

“I've been here so many times, I thought I've mentioned that to you, perhaps you can't remember?” He touched his stubble with the tip of his fingers.

“Oh! But that was for business and not vacation, right?” She quickly covered up the slip she made.

"Yeah, mainly business deals. But I had quite a time. I learnt a lot, really"

He intense stare at her, was doing strange things to the pit of her stomach that she had to turn her face away from his gaze. The silence between them was uncomfortable on her part. It seemed that every time he stopped talking, he was trying to figure her out. Therefore she opted to change the topic.

"How do you see swimming?" She asked, looking at the water.

"Uhmm... Okay, let's go skinny dipping!" He sounded nervous at first, but quickly agreed to the idea.

He wanted her to enjoy their stay here as well, meaning that he was going to have to respect and grant her wishes as well.

Luckily for them, there were only two people in the very large pool. The water in the pool was as clear and blue as the sky, that anyone would see the bottom of the pool clearly. This particular pool was not crowded and set in the eyes of the public, it was one of the special pools located in the VIP section of the hotel. There was another indoor pool, used by private and shy clients; the ones who wouldn't want to bare their body to the public.

Doris slipped out of the pink floral gown she was wearing; that stopped right below her knees. She looked back at Matthew, who seemed to be having problems pulling his shirt and shorts off. Taking off the band that held her wavy hair in a ponytail, she walked closer to him and took hold of one of the buttons on his shirt.

"Need help?" She sounded flirtatious, battling her lashes at him.

Matthew was tongue-tied.

He was confused.

He was getting affected by her sudden passionate display. He barely managed to nod his head at her question, and in half a minute, she had his shirt off his body.

"Do you want me to help you with your shorts too, I'm sure we wouldn't want our friends here to get the wrong idea" She drawled on the last word.

"I can do that myself"

"Okay," she turned back towards the pool and counted, "one...two...three!" before running and jumping into the pool.

The man and woman at the other end of the pool, who saw what she did, cheered and clapped for her.

She was happy. She had missed doing this. She did it a lot when she was younger and always went swimming with her friends. For once, she was glad she could come to this place and have a great time again, even if it was for a day.

"Your turn" She smiled encouragingly at Matthew who's still standing at the same spot.

"One, two, three!" He sprinted as fast as he could. But hesitated few feet away, then stopped at the rim of the water.

“You know what... I'll get us some drinks, then I'll be back.” He quickly wore his shirt and shorts, before running away as fast as he could.

Doris' smile fell. She felt that something was wrong. She noticed that he was even almost out of breathe before he stopped.

She looked back at the couple behind them, they were already getting out of the water and drying their bodies. It was suddenly too awkward for her to be the only one in the pool.

She got out too, picked up one of the towels provided on the sun-lounge and wiped her body dry before putting on a robe.

Going back to their room was her first thought, but she decided to stay behind and wait for Matthew.

"Hey babe," his voice sounded behind her "you don't want to swim anymore?"

She looked up at him, anger and disappointment clearly expressed on her face. She didn't want to talk to him after he ran out on her like that, but she felt compelled to.

"I can't be the only one in the pool, right?" Perking up her brows at him, to get her point across.

"I apologize for that. I didn't want to tell you because, I thought I could do it" He sat on another lounge beside hers, and placed the tray containing red-coloured drinks, beside him.

"You can't do what?" She was baffled at that. She always looked up to him, as the perfect man.

"I... I can't swim" He put his head down, afraid of seeing the judgemental look she would give him.

That was a shocker. She has never met a man who couldn't swim. Now, it seemed her sister was married to one.

The forlorn look on his face at that moment, pulled her to him.

She sat beside him and carried away the tray to the lounge she was previously sitting on. There was nothing to say at a time like this. Nothing could probably make him feel better.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, placing her head on his back. She kissed his neck. While she stayed with him, she could try to be the good wife for him.

Besides, he was not the only one with flaws. She does not know how to cook, and no one except few people close to her knew that fact; something they never failed to stop taunting her about.

She hated judging people because of their flaws and she wasn't going to do the same to Matthew, him alone understood her and has been her pillar of support more than anyone she knew.

"It's okay. You could learn, there are professionals you could pay to teach you,"

He shook his head.

"No you don't understand. I'm aquaphobic, I can't stand being in a pool of water."

"Matt..." She held his chin towards her face "do you want to tell me about it?"

"Let's go back to our room." He pulled her up with him.

She gathered her clothes and wanted to carry the drinks.

"Leave it. There are people who are paid to do that, but I don't think we'll be needing it anymore." He poured out the liquid from the wineglasses, then took her free hand in his as they walked back to their room.